Mobile Phone Trends and Predictions

With the recent reveal of the LG G5 and Samsung’s Galaxy 7 and 7 Edge, we got talking around the office about what trends we predict in Mobile phones for the near future.

Adrian Kimmitt, Team Leader at Terraform, has been around the mobile world for many years now, and knows the ebb and flow of the mobile market. Here are just a few of the trends he expects to continue this year and beyond:

Screen Size

Last year was the catch up year for Apple, creating their first large format screen years after being introduced by Samsung. But big screens won’t be what people are soon interested in. Kimmitt expects the 70-75mm screens to be the desired size of the future. This size is the perfect ratio of visibility and comfort for holding. It should be interesting to see if this prediction has any clout when Apple launches the iPhone 5se in March and iPhone 7 later this year.

Fingerprint Sensors

Not only does this trend give users built in two-factor authentication, but it creates a faster user experience and of course, looks pretty cool. Expect to see fingerprint sensors galore as new phones emerge.

USB-C

Say goodbye to the micro USB. Soon all mobile devices will charge via USB-C, and you can expect the technology to stay around for many years. Kimmett does not expect to see the iPhone 7 integrate the USB-C, purely because they don’t want to risk pissing off their user base again. But based on the fact that the new Macbook 12 and the new version of the Apple TV has it already, you can be sure Apple will be switching at some point. In three years time you can expect every device to be using this technology.

Unibody

As far as design goes, expect to see more unibody frames, as in one solid piece of aluminium, like the recently revealed LG G5. This will provide better durability and no flex, which protects the important contents of the phone.

More Physical Buttons

It seems lately phones are reverting back to physical buttons and away from a full on touch screen model. The LG G5 features a physical camera shutter button, but Kimmett suggests we can expect to see more buttons for volume, power, and even notifications on the body of our future mobile devices.

Maybe one day we will create the perfect algorithm for the perfect phone, and there will be no way to improve it. Whatever the mobile future holds, it sure seems like old trends will become new again no matter how advanced we get.